ASSAULT WITH FLASHLIGHT GETS MAN SEVEN YEARS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer A 35-year-old Palmdale man was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for hitting another man on the head with a metal flashlight, an attack that has left the victim comatose co·ma·tose adj. 1. Of, relating to, or affected with coma. 2. Marked by lethargy; torpid. comatose (kō´m for 11 months. James Jolley, who claimed he acted in self-defense, was sentenced after he entered a no contest plea to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the term used to describe the act of threatening to harm one or more people by using a weapon (usually a firearm). Here, assault must be differentiated from battery as they are often confused. Assault is threatening to use force. . Prosecutors had agreed to dismiss a charge of attempted murder in exchange for the plea. ``It's our position the victim was unarmed during the assault,'' said Deputy District Attorney Daviann Brooks. Jolley hit 37-year-old Michael McDonald of Palmdale on the head once during an argument Oct. 29, 1997, at the Palmdale home of Jolley's estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. wife, who was a friend of McDonald, Brooks said. The victim told hospital emergency room staffers at Lancaster Community Hospital This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. , `Jim did it' before lapsing into a coma that same day, Brooks said. McDonald has since been transferred to a long-term care facility long-term care facility n. See skilled nursing facility. . Jolley's attorney, Deputy Alternate Public Defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was Richard Loa, said Jolley hit McDonald's temple with the flashlight after McDonald came after him with a bat. Loa said he was not sure why the two men were arguing, but said McDonald had taken methamphetamine and ``felt resentful that Jolley was there visiting his estranged wife.'' Loa added that Jolley took McDonald to the hospital because the victim's head was bleeding. The weapon has not been found, Brooks said. Brooks said Jolley has a prior criminal record and was on probation for a misdemeanor domestic violence case. Jolley must serve at least 85 percent of the prison sentence, she added. |
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